Shadow and Christi: Lost Family
by Chaosisters147
Summary: Shadow rescues a little orphan girl from the Nocturnus, but not before she suffers a brutal injury which leaves her with amnesia. Assigned to be her bodyguard, he must now adjust to caring for a child; one who is very easily frightened.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms; then looked around the corner of the building he was standing behind. From here he could see Sonic and the others returning to Cyclone. After returning from the Twilight Cage and then being transported back in time by Super Silver to just after they left, everyone had gone to teach Eggman a lesson for deceiving them. After beating Eggman to pulp (though Omega was rather unhappy that Sonic would not let him finish him off.), Shadow had sped ahead of the others back to the Cyclone, and carried out the young girl who he had left there while he helped the others deal with Eggman. He saw Rouge and Omega preparing to enter the ship, and called quietly to Rouge, "Pst! Hey, Rouge, over here!" Rouge's sharp ears picked up Shadow's call, and she and Omega walked over to him. "There you are. Why'd you take off like that?" Rouge asked her friend; then she noticed the little human girl that Shadow was holding, "Who is that?" Shadow looked back down at the child and began to explain, "Her name is Christina Lorwhola. She was kidnapped by the Nocturnus; for what reason I don't know. But regardless, Ix hurt her very badly. I've done the best I can for her, but she needs to be taken to a hospital. I need your help to get her there." Rouge's eyes widened, "You mean to say she was in the Twilight Cage?" Shadow nodded, "Yes. I knew the Nocturnus had kidnapped her; and as soon as we arrived there, I began looking for her. With the help of Thebes, I was finally able to locate her. When we arrived on the Nocturne, I split off from my team, rescued her, took her back to Cyclone, and then returned to my team before anyone noticed I was gone." "But how come no one else ever saw her?" Rouge asked. "After I did what I could for her, I found a safe place for her to rest, hidden from sight." Shadow explained. "But why hide her? Sonic and the others wouldn't have cared." Rouge inquired, now feeling very perplexed. "I am aware of that. But I didn't want to hear any stupid comments from Sonic on the matter either." Shadow replied. "Now let's go. The nearest city is Station Square, so let's head there." Rouge nodded, "Fastest way is through the underground, let's go."

So Team Dark began to make their way through the underground with the young child. As they exited the tunnels into the Blue Ridge Zone, they realized a problem. It was below freezing, and Shadow almost immediately felt the little girl's skin grow colder. "Christina can't survive in this weather! We have to find someplace warm quickly!" Shadow informed his comrades. The three walked hastily through the snow until the saw a small house and man, probably in his thirties, walking out. Shadow recognized the man and called out to him, "Hey! You're Timothy, right?" "Yeah," the man answered, "And I recognize you. You were with Sonic when he "rescued" me from that well." "Yes." Shadow replied, "Listen, I don't mean to intrude, but we need shelter." Timothy noticed the pale little girl in Shadow's arms and nodded. "Yeah, of course. Come inside." Timothy led them into the house and into a small bedroom. "Here make yourselves comfortable." Timothy told them. "Sorry there's only one guestroom." "That's fine," Shadow replied, "we shouldn't be here very long anyway." Timothy left; Rouge pulled down the covers of the bed, and Shadow laid Christina there, took off her shoes, and pulled the covers up to her chin. "Rouge, call for a G.U.N. Medical Transport." Shadow told his friend. Rouge nodded and left the room for a moment.

Shadow placed a chair next to the bed and sat down, finally taking a good look at Christina. Her hair was oily and dirty, and her skin was rather dirty too, indicating that she had not bathed in several days. Her hair, which was red, was pulled up into a ponytail. It appeared as though she did not have bangs, but Shadow knew that she kept her bangs pinned back. There was a bandage around her head. Shadow had put it there and was well aware of the large bump on the back of her head, where Ix had evidently struck her. Her eyes, which Shadow knew to be blue, were closed and she continued to breathe evenly. Shadow was a bit concerned for the girl. She had been unconscious like this for several hours and showed no sign of waking. Though clearly alive, she was totally unresponsive, not even stirring when she was moved about or when they had been out in the cold. He knew the sooner the transport arrived, the better.

Rouge came back into the room, "The transport is on its way. So Shadow, how do you know her?" Shadow glanced at Rouge and hesitated before answering, "She's my niece; well more like my great niece." "Really?" Rouge said in surprise. She looked at the little girl, "I don't see the resemblance she half-joked. Shadow rolled his eyes "Her great-grandmother worked aboard the ARK as an electromagnetic scientist. Professor Gerald viewed her as a respected colleague and trusted confidant. She even helped him to raise me, and was like a mother to both Maria and I. So naturally, her own daughter was practically our sister. I never saw either of them again after the ARK was shut down. A while back Christina became very ill. Since I had "grown up" with her grandmother, I naturally felt a connection to her. When I learned that Christina had no family to comfort her while she was ailing, I decided to stay by her side. After she recovered, we kept in touch, but I've always kept my distance for her safety. Now I wish I hadn't. Perhaps if I had stayed closer to her, I could've stopped the Nocturnus from taking her, and she wouldn't be in this state. "Hey, don't go blaming yourself." Rouge said, "She probably has you to thank that she's even alive right now. Everything will be fine Shadow." At that moment, the medical transport arrived and several paramedics came into the room and began checking Christina's vitals signs. They determined that she was stable enough to be moved, so they lifted her onto a stretcher, heaped a bunch of blankets on her so she wouldn't get chilled, and moved the gurney to the sigma copter they had arrived in. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega followed, riding with the transport back to Central City, where her injuries would be treated at G.U.N. HQ Hospital. Shadow hoped the doctors would be able to do something to help her recover.

When the transport arrived in Central City, Christina was moved into the care of her pediatrician, Dr. Peterson. Rouge had left to go file her report, and Omega was getting himself restocked, so Shadow was waiting in the lobby for word on the child's condition alone. About an hour later, Dr. Peterson came into the lobby. "How is she?" Shadow asked upon seeing him. Dr. Peterson sighed, "She has a severe concussion, and it seems she has slipped into a coma. I don't know when, or if, she'll wake up." Shadow for once, seemed worried, "Can I see her?" he asked. Dr. Peterson nodded and led Shadow to Critical Care Unit where Christina was.

The little girl was hooked up to a pulse-ox meter to monitor her heart rate and oxygen levels. Shadow took her hand in his. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner." he whispered. "What did I say about blaming yourself?" Rouge asked as she walked into the room, followed by the Commander of G.U.N. "Dr. Peterson informed me that she will recover, it will just take some time." Shadow nodded, "I know sir." Shadow thought for a moment and then spoke again, "Sir, I request permission to go to Space Colony ARK and retrieve a heal unit." The Commander was thoroughly surprised, "Are there even any up there?" he asked Shadow. Shadow nodded, "When G.U.N. shut down the ARK, they did confiscate several of the heal units; but they failed to notice that the heal units were produced by heal unit servers. Those servers are still there and are still functioning. I want to retrieve one to give to Christina. I think she has suffered enough as it is." The Commander nodded, "Very well. Permission granted. But how do you intend to get there?" "I'll locate a Chaos Emerald and use Chaos Control." Shadow replied. "Very well. Take Agent Rouge with you to help you locate the Emerald." Shadow nodded and he and Rouge left to locate a Chaos Emerald.

Shadow returned to the hospital a few hours later with strange, glowing, blue capsule-like device. "What does that thing do exactly?" Rouge asked. "It's one of the Professor's inventions." Shadow explained, "It can heal any injury in a matter of seconds; thing is though, it can't undo any permanent damage that has already been done." Shadow walked a little closer and then tossed the heal-unit at Christina. A few seconds later, the child's heart rate sped up. "I think she may be coming to." Dr. Peterson said. Shadow stood at the child's bedside and spoke softly to her, "Christina. Christina, can you hear me?"

Christina moaned quietly and opened her eyes, directing them towards the sound of Shadow's voice and looking at him. "How are you feeling?" Shadow asked her. "I feel fine." she replied as she started to sit up, "Although I am a bit dizzy." "That's just a side-effect," Shadow told her, "but you're going to be all right now." The little girl looked at Shadow, "Who are you?" she asked. Shadow looked rather taken aback, "You don't remember me?" he asked her. Christina shook her head. "Can you remember who you are?" he inquired. The little girl thought for a moment; then her eyes widened, and shook her head. "No." she said quietly. Shadow sighed, "Can you remember anything at all?" "No," she replied, "I can't remember anything at all!" the little girl was now on the verge of tears. "Hey, it's okay." Shadow told her, "It's not your fault." "But why can't I remember anything?" she asked him. "You were hurt very badly." Shadow explained. "Will I ever get my memory back?" Christina asked. "It's possible." Shadow said, "I'll do what I can to help you. First off, I should tell you that your name is Christina Crystalika Lorwhola. You're five years old, but you'll be turning six in a couple of months. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. You're uncle, in a matter of speaking." Christina looked at Shadow. She may have been amnesiac, but she was not blind. Shadow nodded, "It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later. And I will do what I can to help you."

At this point Dr. Peterson stepped forward. "Hello Christina, I'm Dr. Peterson, your pediatrician. I just need to check you over, okay?" Christina looked at Dr. Peterson and nodded. Dr. Peterson removed the bandage from Christina's head to find the bump was gone. "Amazing." he said quietly. "Can I take a bath?" Christina asked, "I really feel like I need one." "Trust me kid, you do." Rouge said. Christina looked at Rouge, "Who are you?" "I'm Rouge the Bat, I'm Shadow's best friend." "We'll leave you to get cleaned up." Dr. Peterson told Christina. "There's some fresh clothes for you on that chair over there." Christina nodded and Shadow, Rouge, the Commander, and Dr. Peterson left the room.

"Poor little thing." Rouge said quietly. "Commander, I'm concerned about Christina returning to her orphanage." Shadow said, "She has always been a bit of a magnet for trouble, and she's all the more vulnerable in her current condition." "I agree Agent Shadow." the Commander replied, "but do you have any suggestions as to what should be done?" "I think perhaps she should be put into the care of a G.U.N. agent who can protect her." Shadow answered. "I think you are right. And I think you should be the one to do it." the Commander stated. "Me, sir?" Shadow said, somewhat surprised. The Commander nodded, "Yes, Christina is your niece. Well, she is my niece too, but you know I have to keep my distance. And even in her amnesiac state, she trusts you. She'll be comfortable with you and is you are one of my best agents. There is no one else I would trust her more with." Shadow stood there in shock for a moment after the Commander left then said, "Great. Having been treated with that heal-unit, Christina will be able to leave the hospital within the hour, and I don't have a room set up for her." "Don't you have a guest room?" Rouge asked. "I have a spare room, but I never bothered to set it up for guests." Shadow replied. "Well I'll just have to help you set it up then." "Thank you Rouge. I'd better check on Christina. She needs to know what's going on as soon as possible."

When Shadow and Rouge came back into the room, Christina was already dressed and seemed to be looking for something. "What's wrong?" Shadow asked her. "I don't know." Christina replied, "I just feel like something should be here," she pointed to just below her neck, "and it isn't." "Maybe you mean this." Rouge said holding up a golden heart-shaped locket. Christina looked at the necklace in surprise, "What is that?" She asked. Rouge shrugged and said, "You were wearing it while you were out. It was dirty, just like the rest of you, so I took it and cleaned it for you." Rouge held the locket out to the little girl. "Thank you." Christina said; she put the locket around her neck and sighed contently. "What is it?" Shadow asked. "Feeling the weight of it on my chest feels right somehow." Christina replied. "I'm not surprised," Shadow told her, "You almost never take it off." Christina nodded and then opened the locket to see pictures of a man and a woman who looked similar to her. "Who are they?" she asked. "That's your mother and father." Shadow explained. "Where are they?" Christina inquired. "They died when you were a toddler." Shadow replied. "Oh. So where do I live?" Christina asked. "Well, you were living in an orphanage, but as of today you'll be living with me so I can make sure you don't get hurt again." Shadow told her. "Okay." Christina said. "Are you ready to go?" Shadow asked her. Christina nodded and the three of them left the hospital.

The orphanage where Christina had been living was just down the street from G.U.N. Headquarters. Shadow had called to ask that they have Christina's things packed for her when she got there. When they arrived at the orphanage, everything was ready. All of Christina's clothes were packed in a suitcase, and there was a large cardboard box and also a smaller one. There was also a red-and-yellow duffel bag. Rouge was a little surprised at how little Christina owned, but then decided that was probably typical for an orphan. They loaded everything into Rouge's car and drove to Shadow's house.

"I'm surprised you live in such a pristine, little neighborhood Shadow." Rouge commented as they brought Christina's things in. She didn't mention that Shadow's house stuck out among the others. "It was the most secluded place I could find that still had a road to drive on." Rouge sweat-dropped.

Shadow looked through the boxes until he found what he was looking for. He brought a doll with curly red hair and blue eyes wearing a yellow dress over to Christina. "Here." Shadow said as he handed her the doll. "What's this?" Christina asked. "That's Crystalina." Shadow informed her, "I gave her to you so that you wouldn't be so lonely when I wasn't around. If I remember right, you named her after your mother." Christina looked at the doll for a moment, and then hugged it close, as it seemed very dear and familiar. Rouge was looking through Christina's clothes. "Squirt, we have got to get you some new clothes. You only have like six outfits in here excluding your school uniform, and one dress that looks like it's for special occasions." "I think you may need a new pair of running shoes too." Shadow said as he pulled a pair of somewhat worn running shoes out of Christina's duffel bag, "Something more durable than these." "We are definitely taking you to the mall tomorrow." Rouge stated. "What's the mall?" Christina asked. "It's…" Rouge thought for a moment. She really wasn't sure how to explain the mall to an amnesiac, "well, you'll see when we go tomorrow." she said simply.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the mall!" Rouge stated as she, Shadow, and Christina stepped through the entrance to the large structure. Christina looked around and instantly felt frightened by the huge crowd of people that filled the mall. She clutched Shadow's arm, which surprised him, but he didn't try to make her let go. "What's wrong?" Shadow asked. "There are too many people." Christina replied, "And I don't know any of them. I don't wanna get lost. If I lost you, I'd be all alone." Shadow just nodded. The three of them proceeded through the mall towards the children's clothing stores, Christina clinging to Shadow's arm the whole way.

"Here we go!" said Rouge as they entered a store, "See anything you like Squirt?" Christina looked around, feeling overwhelmed by all the types of clothing and all the colors. Rouge took Christina's hand and led her over to a rack, and began looking through the dresses on the rack. Christina watched her curiously, then a bright yellow dress with short, puffy sleeves caught her eye, "This is pretty." she told Rouge. Rouge looked at the dress and smiled, "You really like yellow, don't you?" Christina nodded, "It's my favorite color." Rouge nodded and then said, "But a little variety would be good. I think you'd look really good in blue. It'd match those pretty eyes of yours." Rouge and Christina searched the rack and a few other racks and then Rouge led Christina towards the dressing rooms.

"Pipsqueak?" said a voice behind them, but all three of them ignored it. "Hey Pipsqueak!" this time the voice sounded annoyed. "Hey! Christina Lorwhola!" the voice still sounded agitated, but this time Christina turned around to face its owner, "Yes?" "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you Pipsqueak!" the voice belonged to a blond-haired, green-eyed girl who looked to be about eleven or twelve. "Well, I'm sorry, but how was I to know you were addressing me? My name is Christina, not 'Pipsqueak.'" "Oh please," said the girl, rolling her eyes, "that's what I always call you. It's your nickname." 'Not a very nice nickname.' thought Christina, "I'm sorry but, who are you?" "Oh. Don't act like you don't know who I am." At this point, Shadow stepped in, "Christina has been through a lot lately, and there's a lot that she doesn't remember." "Oh. Then I'll tell you so I can be sure you know. I'm Milan Ramada, the coolest girl in our school, and this whole city. And you are the lamest girl in our school, which is why no one likes you." "Miss Ramada," Shadow began with as much restraint as he could muster, "I'm certain that the reason you came here was not make fun of Christina. Please go about your business."

Milan looked rather unhappy about being told off, but she and her friends left anyway. Christina was obviously upset about what Milan had said. "Hey, don't let her get you down Kiddo." Rouge said. "But why did she say that about me?" Christina's voice implied she was on the verge of crying. "Because she's jealous." Shadow stated. "Huh?" Christina asked in confusion. "People like that can't stand the idea that someone might be more well liked than them, so they find any excuse they can to say that person isn't as good as them."

They went back to the dressing rooms, and in the end, Christina got some new jumpers and shirts, the yellow dress, a sleeveless blue dress that matched her eyes, and a few others. She also got some new headbands and hair ribbons for her hair. Then they went to a shoe store and found a new pair of running shoes for Christina, though Shadow said they probably needed to be "modified." They also found two new pairs of shoes to match Christina's new dresses.

"Well, I think we've found everything we need." declared Rouge as they walked back toward the entrance. "Good." said Christina, "Now can we please get out of here?" "Yes, we're leaving now." Shadow told her, "But now we need to go find some furniture for your room." "Oh…"


End file.
